Lovelock 2016 Commission: Cloud Crash, by HeHe

A peculiar climate has collided with the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester ...

For the world premiere of Cape Farewell’s annual Lovelock Art Commission at the Museum of Science and Industry, Paris-based artists HeHe – Helen Evans and Heiko Hansen - have taken inspiration from pioneering climate scientist James Lovelock and the ground-breaking science funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) to bring atmospheric science powerfully to life across the MSI site.

These exciting new pieces depict micro-climates, pollution and artificially engineered clouds in provocative new contexts, blurring the boundaries between the natural and the man-made. The artworks complement NERC’s Into The Blue campaign, a series of showcase events in the Northwest throughout October that celebrate the environmental science we live and breathe.

The exhibition includes three artworks - a micro-climate Airbag, a manufactured airspace Burnout and artificially engineered clouds Diamonds In The Sky.

'Clouds act upon the climate in both real and imaginary ways. In the arts, clouds have occupied a special place in our imaginations and their countless forms and combinations have offered infinite possibilities for metaphor. For climate scientists, understanding how clouds regulate earth's temperature is a vast area of research and on a global scale these feedback processes are so complex they still retain untold mysteries. Everyday, the air that we breath is submerged in toxic smogs from far flung places, blurring the boundaries between natural clouds and man-made. Earth's atmosphere is changing in such profound ways that the notion of pure natural clouds, untouched by mankind, belong to a more innocent age' HeHe, 2016

HeHe present a special viewing of their new work Cloud Crash. The bar will be open as HeHe discuss how their installations offer a cultural response to James Lovelock’s work, while scientists from the Natural Environment Research Council reveal their latest research into atmospherics.